I am totally new to Shapeways, but I am hoping it can help make a much-wanted special item into a reality. I'm a doll collector, and I need two copies of a very unique and unusual sword that is depicted in the manga (comic) X by the artist group CLAMP. It will be 1/3 scale with a total length of about 52cm. I guess first of all I need to know if it's possible. Secondly, I need to commission someone to render it in a way that Shapeways can digest.

Two problems:
1) Shapeways is not allowed to produce weapons (NL government export restrictions).. I believe the current limit is 10cm for a knife-like object.
2) The only printer they currently have of producing something 52cm long is Stainless Steel. But at that length, ANY material is going to be very expensive due to the volume of material.

One possibility is to produce sections of the item that would have to be assembled during post processing.
Another possibility might be to make a mold for the sword, rather than the sword itself. (But, that'll be even MORE expensive)

Patience, Persistance, Politeness - the 3Ps will help us get us to Perfect Printed Products

I would be quite interested in working with you to make the swords. As Stony points out Shapeways do have restrictions on weapon type models, but I'm sure with the help of Customer Services we can find a way to create them.